


A Clockwork Orange

by dharmavati, sporkyadrasteia (dharmavati)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 100-1000 Words, Brainwashing, Character Study, Community: theavatar100, Gen, It Made Sense In My Head, Literary Reference, POV Minor Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-12
Updated: 2007-04-12
Packaged: 2017-10-03 17:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dharmavati/pseuds/dharmavati, https://archiveofourown.org/users/dharmavati/pseuds/sporkyadrasteia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For some reason this small voice in his head kept repeating Freedom Fighter… but that was silly. Absurd. Why would anyone want to fight against freedom? (Challenge #88: Titles)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Clockwork Orange

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after "City of Walls and Secrets" but before "Lake Laogai".

He knows not where his legs are being led these days but the lack of stone walls seems to just push him to move, but, before he knows it, he is in the marketplace, breathing on the _real_ dusty air that sifts between the busy stalls.

For several moments, he just stands there in the tented shadows, smiling to himself for this freedom once again (for some reason this small voice in his head kept repeating _Freedom Fighter_… but that was silly. Absurd. Why would anyone want to fight against freedom?).

He turns to the nearest stall, owned by a hawker with tables filled with decorative swords. "Hey, you! You there! You interested in swords?"

"N-No," he stammers back, _after all why would he? He was an upstanding young man of the Earth Kingdom now._

"I received these just the other day. Twin Tiger-Head Hook Swords! Picked up a few days ago in the lower ring of the city. You won't be able to find these anywhere else." The man flashes his wares eagerly. Jet wonders how he could sell weapons of such ultra-violence with a smile.

"Well, I _do_ like to collect antiques," he mutters, digging his hand into his pocket, only to find a moderate amount of gold coins that he knows had not always been there.

The hawker chuckles as he wraps the swords for his new customer. "There you go, young man! Go put them on your wall and impress your girlfriend or something. Put them to good use."

Jet thanks him quietly and walks out of the open-air market, fingering the somewhat familiar blades with curiosity. He supposes that he'd now need to buy a home to house these artifacts, and then maybe get a job or something and there was always that matter of having a girlfriend that the merchant mentioned… he'd have to remedy that certain lack somehow to be an upstanding young man—-

Jet swallows the bile quickly rising in his throat as he boldly grips the hilts.

_There is no war in Ba Sing Se._

And, so far, Jet finds today to be rather _horrowshow_.


End file.
